Working Life

   The financial newspapers are buzzing with the news of a coalition of business leaders stepping forward to propose executive compensation limits. I think this is only a secondary issue. Don’t get me wrong–I think the greed that has swamped the country at the executive suite level is astonishing. And it should be dealt with. […]

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   In our newest installment of false choices, from The Wall Street Journal: President Barack Obama’s decision to side with the United Steelworkers and impose temporary tariffs on Chinese car tires implies a potentially costly trade-off for the administration, trade and political experts said. In the near term, the move should consolidate the support of […]

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Our problem in the country is not the lack of money or the lack of resources. It is how we set our priorities, whether we choose, for example, to value our communities over corporate special interests (the health care fight is one clear example of that struggle). Today, we see priorities pitted against each other […]

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   There has been a lot of handwringing about the long-term debt forecasted by the Administration (a quick observation, in case there is confusion: the fiscal deficit is the annual gap between what comes into the government and what is paid out; the country’s debt is the accumulated gaps from the annual deficits). For example: […]

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Political scientists and historians from Rush Limbaugh to Sean Hannity to Lyndon LaRouche to that woman with short brown hair who, I deduce, must be a scholar of German history, are comparing Obama to Hitler and his likening his health care plan to Nazism. Liberal bullies and freedom of speech haters like Barney Frank are […]

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   As is pretty common when it comes to the traditional media and the political insiders talking about the Federal Reserve Board, there is way too much deference given the Fed. Today, The New York Times has a story raising the question about whether Ben Bernanke should be reappointed as the Fed chair: In Washington […]

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I fear for our country. Medicare has been one of the most successful programs in the history of our country. But, there is apparently a push to "curb the cost" (read: cut) Medicare, even though there is plenty of money to keep it robust–if our political leaders stop trying to appease the wrong people.   […]

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   No institution ever gives up power willingly. It has to be taken from it by force–not necessarily armed force, but certainly political force. To wit, the battle over the power of the Federal Reserve Board. Two different takes floated around the business/mainstream media today–both of which miss the point, which I’ll get to down […]

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   Last week, I wrote about the energy bill and passages that impose penalties on countries that violate the bill. The president thinks this is "protectionism": “At a time when the economy worldwide is still deep in recession and we’ve seen a significant drop in global trade,” Mr. Obama said, “I think we have to […]

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   I may be wrong about this but, excuse me, why exactly is the president extending new powers to the Federal Reserve Board as part of his new proposal to reregulate the financial services industry? The New York Times doesn’t even bother to dig into this but The Wall Street Journal does: The Fed emerges […]

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